​Andrew Johannes


external image 14647_102256689795293_100000328876829_58060_7650676_s.jpg

Believe in the Snow
Believe in snow because it is all you have in one lifetime. Snow is as soft and soundless as a cool and calm summer breeze in your face. I think I speak for everyone of how awesome snow is and how we really need to appreciate it before it starts fading away. I am talking about the constant heating of our atmosphere. No matter what we do, the sun will burn us to extinction in a couple billion years or so. So it is up to us to enjoy every simple second of the cold, white, frozen and soft snow.

My appreciation began in Keystone, CO. I was sitting around the house in a lazy manner playing video games and watching television for a couple days. Finally, I found the strength to do something worth wild. I decided to go to the top of A-Basin and ride my board all the way down the pass back to my house. It was ten in the morning and I arrived at the top of the resort with my gear ready for action. I enjoyed most of the trip by weaving in and out between trees with the refreshing snow brushing up in my face. The cool breeze and high altitude breaths were such relieving feelings to my heart. The best part of it was the mesmerizing sights of the mountain ridges and the beautiful landscapes that were in view. All of this in nature came together harmoniously with sounds of silence throughout my trip. Just about halfway down the ridge was when I started hating myself for trying this. I practically had to hike through ten feet of snow in my bulky boots while carrying my board on my back.
The hiking and the constant snow that was swallowing me up from every step came to be a workout. I was tired, my phone was out of batteries, my board was becoming heavier and heavier and I was about to pass out in the valley from the constant heat waves of the sun exhausting every last strength of energy that was left in me. But I pushed on and finally made it to my house at about six o’clock that evening. I wasn’t surprised when I arrived and heard my dad yelling furiously at me about how he was about to contact the police to find me.
The choice of taking part in this excursion taught me many lessons and gave me many memories to look back on. I enjoyed every last minute of the snow on my trip. I may have not been happy during the experience, but it gave me proud and noble aspects to add to my memory. In addition, I thought to myself of how cold all that snow was when I was entrapped by it, but I thought up a little paradox and asked myself how I would have felt hiking through the Sahara Desert with absolutely no type of water, ice, or snow. You don’t appreciate the kindness of snow until it starts fading away into dryness. Please believe in the snow.